Blackstone (Book 2)

by Honor Raconteur

  Siobhan let out a low whistle. “That’s quite the trade secret that they handed you.”

  “I know it. When we get back, I’ll make a fortune off of it.”

  Wise man to make friends where he did. He was right, he really would make a killing by making durable weapons. Fei had almost had his sword stolen several times because of its high quality. “Well, gentleman, you seem to be making good progress. I won’t stop you. Carry on.” With a bow to both men, she turned and left the shop.

  So Beirly had found an in with the master smiths here. Good, anything that they could learn and take home with them offered them more opportunities in the future, and that was never a bad thing. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be seeing Beirly for the rest of their stay. He’d be too busy soaking up every bit of knowledge he could.

  Gaining the main street again, she kept going in the direction she had been traveling. So far, she’d found several of her people, which made sense—they didn’t really know the area either, so they’d be close to the near road, just to avoid being lost. This was obviously a good path for her to travel if she wanted to see what her people were up to.

  The road narrowed abruptly, trees hugging the sides of it in a tight grip, the branches overhead almost intertwined. Siobhan had to slip sideways to get past a cart heading the other direction, and when she did, a sweet scent filled her head. Stopping, she leaned in closer to a bush that grew next to the tree. It had small white blossoms and a smell almost like honey. Denney had mentioned the night before that the locals had shown her a flower that could be eaten called honeysuckle. Was this it?

  She bent to pick off a section but snatched her hand back at the last second as a small head poked out of the bush. Finger monkey! They’d had the devil of a time keeping these creatures out of their bags. Did they like honeysuckle? Looking closer, she spied several dozen in the bush alone. Looked like they did.

  Well, she wasn’t curious enough about the flower to risk tangling with those little pests. Shaking her head, she went back to walking. But she didn’t get far before she spied a familiar set of blondes up ahead, in a little clearing off to the side of the road.

  Rune and Denney? Well, she had wondered why Rune wasn’t at the field doing the head-breaking contest. Now she knew.

  Denney was half-crouched, both of her hands firmly grasping the collars of the dogs. Their tails were wagging furiously, tongues lolling out of their mouths, and if she had let go they certainly would have been jumping on Rune. Siobhan knew what they were trying to really get at, though, and it wasn’t him.

  From head to toe, Rune seemed covered in finger monkeys. They were scrambling all around him, or clinging to his clothes, and if he pulled one off, two seemed to come back in its place. He didn’t seem to mind this, though. In fact, he was laughing.

  Siobhan slowed to a stop, captivated by the sight. She’d seen the occasional smile from Rune, but never before a full out laugh. My me my and didn’t he look beautiful in that moment—eyes shining, without a wary or cautious line in his face, body relaxed. He radiated happiness like sunlight.

  “What did ya do ta me?” His complaint was not to be taken seriously, as he was laughing so hard he could barely get the words out.

  Denney didn’t take it seriously either, just laughed at him. “I told you that particular flower attracts them! Honeysuckle is dangerous to have on you in this area of the world.”

  “Then why did ya smother me with it?” he retorted, still trying to get himself free of the monkeys. They raced around his torso and shoulders, chittering and pulling at his clothes. If they were any larger, they’d probably succeed in stripping him. They seemed determined to do just that.

  Giving him a mischievous smile, she just shrugged as if to say, Don’t know.

  The scene was such a mix of innocence and joy that Siobhan couldn’t bring herself to interrupt it. Quietly, she eased back the way she had come. A smile on her face, she retreated to the main fork in the road and took a different branch instead.

  Well, it looked as if she had found almost everyone. Conli, Grae, and Markl were likely neck deep in a stack of books somewhere, knowing them. Fei, of course, was spending every possible moment with his family. That left her on her own. Shrugging, she determined to hire the next child she found as a guide and spend the rest of the day enjoying this strange and delightful city.

  While Siobhan understood that meetings were a necessary evil, must she always be the one sacrificed?

  She had spent the past two weeks, sometimes with Markl and Sylvie at her side, explaining the exact situation they were facing, the economies of each city and continent involved, and what she knew of the major players. In that time, her listeners had taken extensive notes and asked many questions, usually ones she didn’t have an answer to. But of course, at some point, the tide had to turn so that she was the one listening and not speaking.

  Only she didn’t really need to listen.

  The same council that had met with her on the first day was now convened, all of them sitting around the table in their customary spots, two pots of tea on the table. Siobhan had drunk who-knew-how-many cups of that tea and was absolutely positive that when she tried to walk out of here, she would make sloshing noises. In an effort to not burst, she refused to drink even one more drop.

  Hyun Woo said something serious and thoughtful. Siobhan really, truly did try to focus on the words, but only heard his voice floating past her ears. The problem lay in that they were all discussing people she didn’t know, from different divisions and offices that she had never heard of before, and while they all understood who the other person was referring to, she hadn’t a clue. Forget a foothold, she didn’t even have a toehold in this conversation.

  But very occasionally they had a question for her, something only she could answer, which forced her to keep sitting there with a polite smile of interest pasted on her face.

  “I believe I should go,” Hyun Woo announced solemnly.

  Siobhan’s wandering attention abruptly snapped back. He wanted to go?

  “Did you not say that Ryu Jin Ho would be a good choice to send?” Bo Sei Jin objected.

  “I did, and I do not retract my words.” Hyun Woo tapped a finger against the surface of the table. “Everything we have been told leads me to believe that simply one strategist will not be enough. We have too many people to teach, possibly multiple cities to protect. The men of Deepwoods have been learning quickly, but I cannot possibly teach them everything they need to know in mere weeks.”

  Ki Do Ri grunted, expression contemplative. “You make a good point.”

  “And I wish to finish what I started,” Hyun Woo added to the table in general. “These new students of mine are adept at strategy. I wish to teach them everything I can.”

  His glance in her direction invited a response so Siobhan told him honestly, “They’d be delighted if you came. All I hear from them is how much fun it is learning all of these different strategies.” In fact, if they got home and her men didn’t organize war games in Goldschmidt, she’d be very surprised.

  Satisfied, he inclined his head toward her as if she had validated the point he was making.

  “Well, certainly, if you wish to go,” Kim Ra Im said with a funny quirk to his head, “none of us can stop you, Hyun Woo-zhi.”

  “Then we have our strategists chosen.” Bo Sei Jin nodded, satisfied. “Who else?”

  Oh Jae Pyo cleared his throat slightly before offering, “I believe that Cha Ji An should go.”

  The table seemed somewhat surprised by this although of course Siobhan had no idea why. Cha Ji An…sounded like a woman’s name?

  When he didn’t get an instant reply, Oh Jae Pyo forged ahead. “She is skilled with negotiations. In our department, she is the one we send when a compromise between two stubborn parties must be reached. She also understands the economics of business and trade very well. Would she not be the most suitable choice?”

  “She is certainly a good choice,” Sei Ja
Na agreed slowly, eyes studying every nuance in his expression. “But we were all under the impression that you would choose to go.”

  “My daughter is expecting her first child in a week,” Oh Jae Pyo reminded her.

  “Ah, of course. My apologies, that had slipped my mind. Of course you would choose to stay for that.”

  Accepting this, he looked around the table at his fellow councilors. Siobhan held her breath, waiting to see if this suggestion would be accepted. If it was, she might very well have her designated party, which meant she would finally be free of meetings.

  “I have no objection,” Kim Ra Im said, looking around him to see if anyone else did.

  “I also have no objection,” Bo Sei Jin concurred although he focused on Hyun Woo as he spoke. “I am not the one that will travel with her or depend on her skills, however. Hyun Woo-zhi? Is Cha Ji An acceptable to you?”

  Hyun Woo relaxed into the first smile Siobhan had ever seen him from. “I once saw that woman negotiate a compromise between Kil Bo Shin and Tae Gong Ri, two of the most stubborn men I’ve ever met. And that was after Kil Bo Shin broke Tae Gong Ri’s favorite dagger. Her skills are formidable. I will be pleased to have her.”

  That sounded like a general consent to her. Siobhan dared to ask, “Then do we have an agreement? Hyun Woo-zhi, Ryu Jin Ho-zhi, and Cha Ji An-jae will be the ones that go?”

  Bo Sei Jin paused just long enough to pan the table, looking for any hints of disagreement, before he relaxed and assured her, “Yes. These will be the ones that we will send.”

  Thank all mercy for that! Siobhan let out the first genuine smile for the first time that day. “Then let’s set a date for departure.”

  ӜӜӜ

  With the delegation settled, Siobhan set their departure date for two days later.

  When the meeting was over, Hyun Woo escorted Siobhan out to the war field and introduced her to Ryu Jin Ho. Ryu Jin Ho seemed to be the Saoleord version of Wolf or Tran. He was as large as mountain, but very slim, black hair thinning on top. Siobhan couldn’t tell by looking at him if he was thirty or fifty, but she guessed somewhere in the middle, based on the quiet confidence that he radiated. Even Wolf and Tran approached the man with respect, which spoke volumes to her.

  With that introduction done, she was then whisked away by Ki Do Ri and taken to the Commerce Division Office so that she could meet their ambassador and negotiations expert, Cha Ji An. Siobhan liked Cha Ji An—she reminded her strongly of Markl, just a female version. Not beautiful, not plain, she possessed that unique charm that drew all people to her. She loved to speak to everyone, and had that knack for putting others at ease so that everyone was comfortable speaking their minds. Most of the women here dressed in several layers of light robes, with a decorative sash around the waist, hair pinned tightly up. Cha Ji An was similar to that, but her hair seemed to rebel at being that tightly contained—wisps escaped in every possible directly. Instead of making her look frumpy, it instead made her seem more approachable.

  Now knowing who it was she was escorting down, and satisfied they understood what it meant to travel to Robarge, Siobhan turned instead and went to find her own guild to alert them that they needed to get ready. After watching the mock battle and seeing with her own eyes what her enforcers were doing on a daily basis, Siobhan knew precisely where to go to find them. It was everyone else that took a bit more time in hunting down. But then, after her explorations, she had a fair idea of where to find the rest.

  Conli had somehow tapped into a medical society that was more than happy to exchange techniques and medicines with him. He was bringing home samples of herbs and reams of notes every night. At the rate he was going, they would need a caravan on the way back. Beirly of course had a similar relationship with the craftsmen up here. Siobhan found that she could find either one of them in either a clinic or a smithy; she just had to find the right one.

  Markl, of course, was immediately stuck to Sei Ja Na’s side, soaking up knowledge from her like a sponge in the middle of an ocean. She hadn’t expected anything different. What did surprise her was that Grae was often in the woman’s presence as well. The City Librarian seemed intensely interested in pathmaking. Apparently, it was beyond rare to have a Pathmaker here in Saoleord. Grae was asked so many questions about it that he came back drained every day. Still, he seemed to enjoy this benign interrogation.

  Denney was hardest to pin down. For the first time, she was in a place that was perfectly safe—not even Robarge offered this kind of freedom for the girl. She roamed wherever she wished to, played with the finger monkeys, the dogs, and whoever was interested in joining her. Siobhan was laying bets with herself that at least a few of those finger monkeys would be coming home with them.

  When the guild had first decided to come, they had felt that staying in Saoleord for a week would be more than enough time. But before Siobhan had realized it, the week had come and gone without notice and no one was remotely interested in returning home. Granted, in part that had something to do with the fact that Saoleord’s delegation wasn’t ready to leave yet, but only in part. Siobhan was fairly sure she would have to drag most of her guild out of these mountains kicking and screaming.

  Regardless, they had two days to sort things out. She felt giving them two days would be the best way to handle leaving. It gave everyone a chance to wrap up what they were doing, and another day to pack and whine at her about staying longer, and then actually get ready to leave. It also gave them time to figure out how to cart all their new-found toys off the mountain. Heaven knew the cart wouldn’t contain it all.

  Regardless, it wasn’t her problem.

  ӜӜӜ

  “Siobhan—”

  “No,” she said calmly, not looking up from the list in her hands.

  “I haven’t even asked the question yet!” Denney protested.

  Siobhan lifted her eyes just enough to pin the girl in place. “No, you may not take any of the finger monkeys home.”

  Rune, sitting at Denney’s back, chuckled. He had four or five of the little creatures, all of them wrapped around his hands, and nibbling on his skin. How he managed to keep them tame and entertained doing that, she couldn’t see, but suspected a liberal amount of honeysuckle had been drizzled over his hands.

  Denney stuck her tongue out before going back to playing with the monkeys.

  Seeing their position, Siobhan realized that Conli’s concerns and Denney’s observations earlier were dead on. At some point, Rune had stopped shadowing her every footstep and was instead choosing to be in Denney’s company more and more. This relieved her in many ways. It meant he felt secure enough now to not constantly cling to her. It also meant that Denney had a guaranteed protector if she wanted to go out anywhere.

  Sitting across the table from her, Conli was compiling the notes that he had taken during this trip. But he paused what he was doing to watch this exchange, eyes lingering on the two, observing how comfortably they leaned up against each other, perfectly content to be in the other’s space. His eyes tightened in worry.

  Siobhan caught his attention and gave him a reassuring wink. Two weeks ago, she would have shared his worry, but Rune had experienced a remarkable growth spurt in maturity while here in Saoleord. The way he was sitting there, in an non-defensive posture, with his hands covered in finger monkeys was a good example of it. Never before had he deliberately put himself into a situation where he couldn’t explode into action in a split second, not even while sleeping. Seeing him openly relaxed was amazing to her.

  According to Wolf, Hyun Woo had a great deal to do with Rune’s changes. Siobhan was ever so glad they had made this trip into Saoleord, for Rune and Fei’s sakes if nothing else. Although really, this trip had seemed to benefit everyone. Twisting on her cushion, she looked about the common area, taking it all in.

  As usual, people were having a packing party of sorts, getting ready to leave the next day. Fei was the sole exception to this, as he was spending every moment possible with his
family before leaving. He had sensibly packed, though, and it was his bags she was using as an impromptu chair to lean against. Satchels and suitcases were strewn all over the floor, with stacks of clothing, trinkets, and goodies sitting in random piles, waiting on people to magically fit all of it in. After a decade of traveling all over the world, Siobhan recognized an impossible task when she saw one. The volume of things that needed to be packed did not match the space available in those bags. Especially where Beirly’s new special tools were concerned.

  But people seemed determined to prove her wrong. Even as she watched, Beirly sat on the lid of his trunk and commanded Sylvie, “Latch it, quick!”

  “You can’t latch it, there’s too much of a gap,” Sylvie protested. “Lean against it harder.”

  “Tran, help!” Beirly called.

  Tran, on the opposite end of the room, came over with a good natured grin on his face. “By, I don’t think this will work.”

  “It will, it will,” Beirly insisted, gesturing for him to stop talking and start leaning.

  “You’ll bust the trunk trying,” Tran warned, but willingly knelt down and braced both hands against the trunk’s top, pushing with considerable force. The trunk gave an alarming moaning sound.

  Sylvie’s fingers flew into action and she snapped the leather straps into place. “Done!”

  Satisfied, Beirly hopped off the trunk and pointed at it victoriously. “See!”

  The word was barely out of his mouth before the leather straps snapped in half.

  The whole room busted out laughing, not one of them sympathetic. Beirly stared down in dismay, no doubt realizing he’d have to borrow the tools and buy new leather in order to fix this problem.

  Shaking her head, Siobhan left him to fix his own mess and went back to her list.

  Grae came and sat next to her, tapping a finger against her arm to get her attention. “Shi, can we stay for just one more day?”

  She tried not to sound exasperated as she responded, “No, Grae. Everyone keeps asking me that question, but no, we can’t. We’ve already stayed a week longer than I promised Darrens we’d do.”